Angiotensin type 2 receptor (AT2R): a challenging twin

Angiotensin II (AngII) regulates such physiological responses as salt and water balance, blood pressure, and vascular tone, and thus plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of diabetes, hypertension, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, and stroke. These effects are mediated through at least three receptors: AT1R, AT2R, and AT4R, which are expressed under different developmental, tissue-specific, and disease-specific conditions and which couple to distinct effector pathways. Signaling through the AT1R, a classical G protein-coupled receptor, has been extensively studied and is well understood. Less is known about signaling through the AT2R, which often antagonizes the effects of signaling through the AT1R, but intriguing data are beginning to emerge concerning the signaling strategies and pathways that the AT2R employs.